i love "ted." it comes out over the weekend, right? >> yes. >> very, very funny. not for the little ones. but it's hysterical. always a pleasure. >> appreciate it. >> i'll be pumping up with this protein later. >> we'll sends you more stuff later. >> i need it. these guns need to work. a deadly perfect storm. hundreds of thousands without power. and the temperatures, they've hit record levels and are still climbing. and gaining ground on a fast-moving fire. for one family an emotional return home are what's left. >> everything is pretty much just collapsed on to the basement at this point. plus, a cnn exclusive and a

very candid discussion with a man who once had it all. >> i'm sweating up in here. >> jason williams on his rise, his fall, and why he says prison saved his life. good evening, everyone. i'm don lemon. thank you so much for joining us. i'm going to get you up to speed now. hundreds of thousands of people are spending tonight in oppressive darkness caused bay brutal heatwave and widespread power outages. crews are working overtime and they could be at it for days. trying to restore electricity in ohio, virginia, and several other states. more on the record breaking heat in a moment here on cnn. in colorado, families are getting their first look at what remains of their homes after a deadly wildfire tore through the neighborhoods of colorado springs. on cnn's state of the union, the colorado governor described what he saw as he flew over the pike national forest. take a listen. >> it was like your worst nightmare of a movie set, trying to show what the apocalypse

or armageddon would like look like. we flew a helicopter in. this was as the fire was going on. i thought it was trees burning. as we got closer, it was homes. to mississippi now, where that state's only remaining abortion clinic will stay open at least for the time being. the clinic owner told us tonight that a mississippi federal court judge has issued a temporary restraining order, which will keep the clinic open until at least july 11th. a hearing is set for that date. the clinic was facing closure under a new state law. in a few minutes, we'll go live to jackson, mississippi, for the late else. exit polls in mexico project that 45-year-old enrique nieto will win the presidency. some 79 million people were registered to vote. many cast ballots after waiting in long lines. if nieto wins, his institutional

revolutionary party will return to power for the first time in 12 years. but until today, we did not have the kind of road map. >> hopefully diplomats' plan for syria won't be a road map to nowhere. hillary clinton praised the new plan today while admitting it may fail. activists say 69 syrians were killed today. syria also faces trouble on its northern border. turkish jets were scrambled three times saturday when syrian helicopters approached the border. want to talk more now about the heatwave and those power outages. records are falling by the day and the tens of thousands of people waiting for their power to return are going to be waiting a while. here's cnn's brian todd. >> reporter: these are the lifesavers, power company teams scrambling to bring transformers back online. but for millions in the midwest and mid-atlantic, these crews can't work fast enough.

>> i hate it. it's horrible. we can't -- all our phones are dead right now in case of an emergency. we can't make a call or anything. >> reporter: in the wake of devastating storms, 20 states are dealing with excessive heat warnings or advisories. temperatures over 100 degrees are scorching much of the southeastern u.s. more than 1 million customers still have no power, and that means huge numbers are at risk. >> heatstrokes defined when you have neurological problems. people come in confused, agitated, altered mental status. once you get to that point, it can be very severe. >> reporter: businesses and state officials are working furiously to make sure people don't get to that point, from passing out free ice at supermarkets to offering cooling centers like the brooks center library in northern virginia. >> what's the biggest challenge for you right now running this library on extra hours? you're usually not open on sundays. >> correct. our libraries are not open on sun days. so the challenge for us was, one, getting the word out working with the counties to

market and to get staff. >> reporter: virginia's governor calls it a dangerous situation for his state and a multi-day challenge. some people in the hardest hit areas, he says, may not get power back until more than a week from when the storms hit. >> that was cnn's brian todd reporting. he also says that monday could be as rough in many areas rougher than they were last week because of the power outages. traffic lights that are out and traffic could be a mess. so be careful. the high temps really busted records all over. close to 2,000 record highs were broken or tied over the past week. our meteorologist is in atlanta. alexandra? >> i want to give you a little perspective on this heat. the breath and depth of it. people from the carolinas all the way to kansas and colorado. 45 million people being impacted. and the degree to which it's being impacted, these are the hottest temperatures these places have ever seen period. they're not just a record for the day or month. since the 1800s, since records have been kept.

111 in dodge city. 109 through the carolinas. records broken today as well in tennessee and georgia. still also 107, 106. the pinnacle of the heat was yesterday and today. so it's kind of downhill slide, albeit kind of a few degrees. but why is it happening? well, this dome of high pressure has been in control. high pressure, all you need to know, kind of thumbs up weher. but it's rising air. we watch air rise from the backside and compress. this air sinks and warms. the position of this with the clockwise flow on wednesday and thursday brought the heat to really the center of the country eastward. through the weekend, the axis of this heat has been in the southeast. we're going to watch this move eastward. it will still stay in the southeast and mid-atlantic. now the degree to which we see it won't be extreme. no 100s tomorrow. 95 in atlanta. 98 in memphis. 97 in denver. out of 100-degree range although

you can see on tuesday we're still there in kc. at 101. temperatures, for the most part, through tuesday, out of the 100s. still in the mid to upper 90s. this will last through wednesday and even into thursday. so not really out of the woods with intense heat, but the real extreme nature kind of is gone from yesterday and today. >> all right. thank you very much. a federal judge steps into the battle of a mississippi abortion clinic. emotions are high on both sides. we go live to jackson, mississippi for the very latest next. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ] [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all. [ chirp ] [ chirp ] [ male announcer ] upgrade to the new "done." with access to the fastest push-to-talk and three times the coverage. now when you buy one kyocera duracore rugged phone, for $49.99, you'll get four free. visit a sprint store, or call 855-878-4biz. [ chirp ]

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under a new law that took effect today, mississippi's only remaining abortion clinic would be forced to close, but that's not going to happen. at least not for the time being. we go to george howe. he's been following this story for us. he's in jackson, mississippi, with more on these new developments. what's the latest here, george? >> reporter: don, good evening. we know this clinic got a temporary restraining order, meaning it will open tomorrow. the clinic will be open until at least july 13th when a hearing is set on this case. this temporary restraining order basically protects the clinic from this new state law here in the state of mississippi that became effective today that effectively would have shut the clinic down. it was described by the governor of this state as a first step toward ending abortion in mississippi. the sponsor of the bill that did become law describes it as a health regulation.

the law basically says this. first of all, any physician here in the state who performs and abortion must be a board certified ob/gyn. that's first. secondly, any physician operating in a clinic here must have special permissions with local hospitals to admit patients if necessary. don, i have a few statements that i'd like to pass along. first of all, from the president, the owner of this clinic who says, first of all she's jub lapt. she says, quote, it means the constitutional rights for women to make their own decisions for the time being is intact. i also have a statement from the person who sponsored the bill, sam mimms. he expects the state department of health to go to the abortion clinic when they are allowed to by the federal court and also he'll be talking with his attorneys tomorrow to decide the next plan. so that's where we are now. this clinic will be open july 11th. that's the day the hearing will happen.

>> george howe, thank you very much. what is it like to watch your home town burn? next, you'll see for yourself through the lens of a cnn i-reporter. [ bell ringing ]

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we want to take you now to colorado where 11 wildfires are actively burning across the state. to give you an idea of the epic scope of these fires, our i-reporter cody sent us this footage of a massive line of fire in colorado springs. look at that. he said he witnessed the destruction of hundreds of homes. cody joins me now. he's on the phone. cody, you grew up there. what has this been like watching all this happen here? >> you know, don, it's been -- it's been unreal. this is definitely something that, you know, colorado springs has never witnessed or expected to ever see. you know, for me it's, you know, i've never seen anything like

this ever occur in my lifetime. >> so we're looking at the pictures here. describe to us what we're looking at. this almost looks like a volcano, cody. >> it does. you know, the fire it just, you know, came down the mountain earlier in the afternoon. you know, the winds just got ahold to have and it just swept it down the mountainside. it literally just hit the city with brute force. >> yeah, like i said, it looks like lava. since you grew up there, i wonder if it's any different for you, if it helps to strew through a lens. maybe it feels like you're providing something. >> everybody's trying to do their part with, you know, this whole situation. you know, we've really seen the city come together in all this. you know, was just hoping that through these pictures i could get word out with what was going on and what our situation was

here and how this fire was impacting colorado springs. >> how's everybody dealing with it there? >> much better. definitely much better. you know, it was definitely a very trying time for a lot of people. a lot of people didn't know if they'd lost their homes or there was not a lot of information going around on, you know, not necessarily what had been destroyed and how far and how extensive the damage was. that was definitely something a lot of people were affected by, just not knowing. there was a lot of uncertainty there. >> cnn i-reporter cody muth. we thank you. we really appreciate our i-reporters here on cnn. they provide us, as you can see, with some just unbelievable work and video sometimes. again, our thanks to cody muth, a cnn i-reporter.

it could be weeks before some of the fires are fully under control. they're scorching western states such as colorado, wyoming, and utah. they're straining resource and firefighters themselves. many of those battling the fires know they're appreciated just by looking out of the windows of their vehicles. [ cheers and applause ] >> yells and screams. >> woo! >> grateful, so grateful. can't even imagine how hard they're working and how tired they must be. >> sure, they've been waving to us. it's been great to see them. great to help them start their days. >> they deserve every woo, applause, and everything. they deserved it all. so congratulations to the folks for doing that and thank you, firefighters, for helping out. you know, from health care to fast and furious, it was a big week for both lawmakers and for the media and some say both got wrapped up in the art of the

spin. plus, this -- >> the winds, with the dryness, you don't want this to get out of control. that's why he's doing what he's doing. >> trying to gain ground on a fast moving fire. we'll take you to the front lines. you koechbt have to be in front of a television to watch cnn. can you do what i do. your iphone, cell phone, or watch from a computer at work. a. your iphone, cell phone, or watch from a computer at work. n. can you do what i do. your iphone, cell phone, or watch from a computer at work.

thanks to the supreme court's decision on health care reform, the last few days have been an education on both the constitution and beltway politics. earlier i spoke with noel shepard from newsbusters.org. they describe their mission as exposing and combatting liberal media bias. before this thing passed, it was all about the individual mandate. then after it was about the tax angle. i asked noel, who missed the

boat? >> it's been really enjoyable the past three months watching all of you folks on this incredible roller coaster. you know, three months ago before the oral arguments, you had people in the media saying that this was clearly going to be upheld. anthony kennedy was going to be the swing vote. you even had your own cnn legal analyst about two or three days before oral arguments saying that this was going to be an 8-1 vote with even alito and roberts and scalia voting in favor of upholding the mandate. kind of strange because three days later, four days later after the oral arguments, he was back on saying health care is dead. obamacare is dead. kennedy is going to go -- go ahead. >> listen. we have two different memories of what happened. every single network, just about

everyone except for one person who's not on this network who i saw, said that the individual mandate would be struck down, noel. i don't remember him coming on cnn. maybe i'm wrong. i didn't see all of it. i don remember jeffrey to beobir anyone coming on cnn saying that the individual mandate would be upheld. most people were startled and surprised that it actually was. >> no, don, actually you're confusing the pre-oral arguments phase with the post-oral arguments. prior to the oral arguments in march, the media were pretty much unanimous that this was likely going to be upheld and anthony kennedy was going to be the swing vote. >> okay. i get you. i understand that. that's ancient history now after that. >> well, but it's been fun to watch. >> can we keep it to this past week? i understand what you're saying. you know, as time moves on and people learn things, they change what they think about things. had it not been for the way the oral arguments went, people

would think different. but the oral arguments did happen. once they happened, most people said it was going to be struck down. so i don't understand your point here. >> the importance of that is how the media responded on thursday. if this had occurred three months ago, the media response on thursday would have been much more of a disappointment because the expectation prior to march was that it wasn't going to be struck down. so after march, when we all got this vision that it was going to be struck down, at that point in time, thursday ended up being, you know, a jubilation. the media were enthralled, almost orgasmic -- >> oh, no, no, no, no. it was not a jubilation. i watched it. i saw some anchors and thought they were going to cry. i watched cnn. cnn, there were no happy people on cnn. so don't say that. people said oh, my gosh, what happened? who died? no, there was no jubilation. come on. you're looking for things. >> there was no jubilation? >> not on this network. i don't know.

maybe on other liberal networks, yes. maybe you are correct. not on this network. certainly not on more conservative networks. >> don, obviously i don't just analyze cnn. i love you and i love cnn. but there are a lot of other networks i have to watch. the evening news broadcasts on thursday -- you know, abc, cbs, nbc -- they were all jubilant. talking about almost making roberts a hero. >> no, okay, so listen. here's the thing, noel. i heard some of that analysis. when someone on an evening newscast leads into a story saying that justice roberts is the man of the hour, it doesn't mean they agree with what justice roberts did. it means that's all people are talking about on the left and on the right, is justice roberts. if you were talking about him, whether it's in a good way or bad way, it means he's the man of the hour.

than you necessarily agree with what he's doing. that's not jubilation. that's fact. >> no, because the previous day and for the previous three months, they were talking about how he was a conservative shil. so all of the sudden because he came out with the ruling which the liberal media likes, he's suddenly a hero. but he was a goat for the previous three months. so obviously what it means is for a supreme court justice or really anybody in america today, you're going to be a hero if to you something that the liberal media likes, but you're a goat if they don't. it can flip-flop in 24 hours. >> all right. thank you very much, noel, for that. let's take that conversation a little bit deeper. is it a tax? is it a penalty? is it? i don't know. is it splitting hairs? we're going get into it. no talking points is next. you don't want to miss it. don't forget to take us with you wherever you go. you can stay connected and watch cnn live from your phone, from your cell phone, or from your

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it is time now for no talking points. okay. from penalty to tax. from mandate to moon walk. boy, did president obama have a reason to celebrate. >> well, do to you see president obama's reaction to the supreme court ruling? you know, it's interesting.

he didn't want to gloat, but if you watch his body language closely, you could see he was feeling pretty good. here he is today. >> this is an nbc news special report. ♪ >> funny. but it is real speech. the president called it a, quote, victory for the american people.nt is real speech. the president called it a, quote, victory for the american peopl is real speech. the president called it a, quote, victory for the american people. not once did he mention the word that made his sweeping health care reform bill constitutional. the word tax. not to worry, though. the republicans did it for him. >> the president said he would never raise taxes on the middle class. this is a middle class tax increase. >> we now know that that piece of legislation created the

largest tax increase in the history of the united states. >> obamacare raises taxes on the american people by approximately $500 billion. >> the court ruled today that, in fact, the affordable care act is a tax. it is the largest tax in america's history. >> all right. but democrats like the former speaker of touse nancy pelosi say, uh-uh. it's not a tax. it's a -- >> it's a penalty. it's a penalty that comes under the tax code. >> all right. so let's see if we can get someone to pin it down. with the white house chief of staff jacob liu. >> you do concede. he wanted to use the word penalty. you concede the law survived only because justice roberts found this to be a tax. >> you know, i think if you look at the decision, which is a very complicated one, you know, there

are arguments that support different theories. >> that was on abc. a little more prodding now on fox news. >> this is going to raise taxes for those families. >> that's not what the supreme court said. they said this is constitutional. it didn't matter what congress called it. it is a penalty. >> wait a minute, sir. >> it's a penalty for people who choose not to buy insurance. >> they called it a tax. >> so it's only fair. democrats are just following the president's lead from all the way back in 2009. >> for us to say that you've got to take a responsibility to get health insurance is absolutely not a tax increase. what it's saying is we're not going to have other people carrying your burdens for you. >> so what is it? is it a tax, or is it a penalty? here's the chief justice's opinion. he says a financial penalty for not obtaining health insurance may reasonably be characterized as a tax.

reasonably characterized as a tax. does that mean the bill is a tax? no. he's not explicit. and therein lies the problem. he's made room for both sides to spin their political webs. mitt romney was for the plan when he created it in massachusetts. before he was against it when the president implemented it. he's even admitted it was a tax on the people of massachusetts. >> -- was able to put in place a plan that helped get health insurance premiums down and gets all of our citizens insured. we do that nationally, we help the auto industry and the entire nation. >> one thing i'd never do would be impose a tax on the entire nation. i'll repeal obamacare. >> here's tonight's no talking points point. it's all a play on words, folks. let's just be honest with each other. let's just be honest. whether you are for it or against it or whether it's a tax

or a penalty, it depends on whether you're a democrat or a republican. if you're a dem, of course, it's a penalty. if you're a republican, it is a tax. the largest one in history. who cares? who cares? who cares? the constitution gives us the right to penalize and to tax. so instead of shouting over each other with accusations, shouldn't with be discussing and debating whether the healthcare bill, which is constitutional, shouldn't we be debating whether it's good for the american people? that's tonight's no talking points. an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference, and i am a phoenix. visit phoenix.edu to find the program that's right for you.

enroll now. i have to know the weather patterns. i upgraded to the new sprint direct connect. so i can get three times the coverage. [ chirp ] [ manager 2 ] it's like working in a giant sandbox with all these huge toys. and with the fastest push-to-talk... i can keep track of them all. [ chirp ] [ chirp ] [ male announcer ] upgrade to the new "done." with access to the fastest push-to-talk and three times the coverage. now when you buy one kyocera duracore rugged phone, for $49.99, you'll get four free.

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half past the hour. let's get you caught up on the headlines now. utility crews are trying to restore power in areas struck by iday night's deadly storms. close to a million people are facing another hot night in the dark. a lot of those outages are in the same places suffering from blistering temperatures. about 1600 high temperature records have been broken around the country. mississippi's only abortion clinic will remain open for now. the clinic owner says a mississippi federal court judge has issued a temporary restraining order allowing the clinic to remain open until a july 11th hearing. they were facing closure under a new state law. exit polls in mexico predict that enrique pena nieto will win the election.

79 million people were registered to vote. officials called this, quote, the largest and most complex election day in mexico's history. this was our garage. you can see the gutter is still left. >> families are getting their first look at what remains of their homes after a deadly wildfire tore through colorado springs. roads were opened for several hours allowing families to see what's left of their homes, and if they haven't been through enough, police say there have been at least 24 burglaries in the evacuated neighborhoods. good grief. colorado springs is under a red flag warning tonight, which means there's a chance a fast moving fire could flare up again. martin savage got up close and personal with the waldo canyon

fire from the fire lines. >> reporter: we're taking a look now. this is a spike, really. it's smoke that's now appeared on a ridge very close to a populated area. this is a real concern. you don't want fires starting up there because it is so close to so many homes. so the sky crane, which is a fire fighting helicopter, has been circling the area. we think it's getting ready to prepare to drop on that. it may not look like a lot of smoke, it may not look like a real severe problem, but with the winds, with the dryness, you don't want this to get out of control. that's why he's doing what he's doing. now, at the same time he's done that, on the street level we've had what appears to be a spot crew that's shown up. they may go off to try to investigate just to see if it's

getting worse up there or whether he's handled it. again, it just shows you how nervous they are. it's been a couple days of decent weather. the fire has been 45% contained, but you don't want to get complacent. there's another drop. he'll go back, maybe refuel, come back again. we'll see. keep an eye on it. martin savage, cnn, colorado springs. and on the grounds, to the sky. helicopter, air tankers, and military planes dropping retardant in hopes of containing the colorado wildfires. i spoke with a major from the

national guard. he's assisting with the wildfires. >> the point of attack is come up with by the forest service. we're just another tool they use on how it fight this fire. they give us the call and we're ready at a moment's notice. we're standing by ready to launch within minutes. it's almost like a nascar pit stop. we get fuel, take off. we rejoin with the lead formation pilot from the forest service. he takes us in. he has the plan. he puts us on target where we can drop our loads. >> i think that's interesting you're saying like a nascar pit stop. get them in, get them out, and you do it very quickly. as we look at this video, especially the aerial ones, we're seeing a lot of smoke coming out of the area from the sky in colorado. does that impact your efforts at all? >> if it impacts the visibility, it can make our job very tough. because it has to be done visually. if we can't acquire the spot we need to be on the ground, it makes it hard. sometimes we have to go into an area expecting to drop in one spot. smoke can drift in on us. we came in several times on tuesday for a line they wanted

to re-enforce. the wind would shift and drop visibility. we would have to go around and do it again. sometimes it would take three, four attempts to get the loads in the direction we wanted. now to the big stories in the week ahead from the race to the white house to wall street. our correspondents tell you what you need to know. we're going to begin tonight with what's happening in the world of politics. >> i'm paul steinus what h >> what do americans think about the supreme court's ruling on health care? where does the race for the white house stand? we'll have answers tomorrow. wednesday, mitt romney takes a break from his break from campaigning to march in a july 4th parade in new hampshire. i'm poppy harlow in new york. wall street will be closely watching health care stocks with the broader market this week. following the supreme court's historic decision thursday to uphold the affordable care act. also, we'll get the latest construction spending data as well as auto sales. all eyes will be on the june

jobs report that's set to be released friday morning ahead of the opening bell. and keep in mind in honor of the 4th of july holiday, u.s. markets will close at 1 p.m. eastern on tuesday and remain closed for the holiday on wednesday. a.j. hammer. here's what we are watching this week. the battle of the big summer block busters. spiderman versus batman. which one will come out on top? it's a countdown showdown you don't want to miss. >> all right, guys. thank you very much. next, my very candid and revealing interview with former nba star jason williams. a cnn exclusive. he had it all. basketball, money, fame. >> good luck to you, mr. williams. >> until he lost it all. jason williams on his rise, his fall, and why he says prison saved his life. , this is the next chapter for the rx and lexus. this is the pursuit of perfection.

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enough to make him sweat, and it's because we cover topics that wouldn't be easy for anyone to answer, especially answering them in front of a national audience. i sat down this weekend with former nba star jason williams. williams had just signed an $86 million contract with the new jersey nets when in 1999 a freak collision with a teammate broke his leg. his career was over, but his

life changed on a cold february night in 2002. williams, hosting friends inside his new jersey mansion, was showing off his gun collection. he was holding a shotgun when it went off and killed his chauffeur. he was sentenced eight years later and last night sat down exclusively with me to talk about his experience. >> i know that you're, you know, a bit leery, a bit nervous about coming on. i said, just be yourself, express yourself, and let people know how you're feeling. you signed an $86 million contract. you're on top of the world with the new jersey nets. what really became part of what we call a dramatic fall happened when you broke your leg, right? did you think then, my goodness, this is over? or did you think you had more to go on to? >> well, you know what happened, don? i lost my way. as soon as i got hurt. when you take away your structure, here comes destruction. i was a guy who woke up every morning at the same time with my dad. we fed our animals. we worked construction together.

then i went and played charles barkley and michael jordan. all the good ones. once you took away that structure, all the destruction came. i had too much free time. >> you were always an affable guy. even after that, you had a career. i think nbc you were going to become a commentator. what i really want you to do, take me back to that night. you were in your mansion. you had the harlem globetrotters over at that's night. you were in your bedroom and all the sudden with the gun. what happened? >> well, don, i can just say i was terribly reckless. to go back to that night, we went to a globetrotter game. i had my adopted grandchildren with me. we went out to dinner. some of the globe trotters, some of the friends went back. when you're a young man, and i'm making no excuses, nobody wanted to see the picassos on your wall. they want to see your guns. i recklessly showed a gun to somebody and went to snap it

closed and the gun went off and killed mr. christofi. if i could take it all back and be much more careful in the whole situation, i'm so sorry for all the pain that i've caused. >> have you spoken to his family? >> i've spoken to his family. >> what did you say to them? >> i spoke to his family only through written statements. i would love to sit down with his family, his sister. that would be a private event. that won't be a media event. that would be just between me and his sister. >> what would you say to the family? >> how terribly sorry i am and how much pain i've caused his family. i'm just terribly sorry. it's so difficult for me, don. i'm just -- i've caused so much pain. >> does this -- is there -- how often does this replay in your mind? do you think about this every single day and often? >> all day long, you know. all day long. i'm not making any excuses for, you know -- i take full responsibility.

i understand the damage i've caused, collateral, and everything else. i think about this all day long. >> i want to take you back to that moment. and that was a moment in 2010 when you were sentenced in a new jersey courtroom. you had the handcuffs. this one for everyone, i think, is really tough to watch. you think you're at top of your game. listen to this. >> with regard to the gag order, this sentence eradicates all prior orders with regard -- >> he says to you, you know, i want to finish this up so you can go and serve your sentence. then he says good luck to you, mr. williams. it looks as if your whole life is falling apart at this moment and you know it. >> well, that was ten years ago. when you're going through a court case for eight years, you have a relationship with the court clerk, the court, your lawyers, and everybody else you see. for eight years.

and i think, that after that, at that time right there, i honestly thought the judge honestly thought i can, you know, show remorse, reform my life. >> yeah, did you think you were untouchable at the time? >> i think so. i think at a time where you think that you're bigger than everybody else. when you lose your way sometimes, those are the things that happen when you just lose your way. i lost my way, don. >> you lost your way. i want to read something here you said in a statement from the deputy attorney general involved in the prosecution. he said, mr. williams has a dark side. nobody knows the real jayson williams. there's a real jekyll-and-hyde like divide. does that dark side still exist? you know what, hold that break. i'll ask you on the over side of the break. ♪

of the break. hver side of the break. er side of the break. er side of the break. er side of the break. ter side of the break. her side of the break. the break. the break.

from first round draft pick to felon. more now on my exclusive interview with former nba star jayson williams. >> you're a little nervous. don't be nervous. i know this is hard for you, but don't be nervous. let people know how you feel. you're doing a great job. at your sentencing in february 2010, you made a declaration,

you said, i will work endlessly to improve myself and make positive contributions to society. it's almost like you were foreshadowing to where you are now. is that so? >> well, i think the first thing i had to do when i got to prison was examine myself. then i had to be remorseful. then i repented. then i reformed. the first thing was examining what causes me to get in trouble all the time? what's my dark side? it was alcohol. >> is that what it was? you said it took, what, eight years between when the incident happened and then when you went to prison in 2010. during that time you crashed your car, you got a dui, you had a divorce, you had all these things go -- why do you have that moment of clarity within that time? >> well, it was a difficult time in my life. like i said before, you know, the collateral damage that you cause, but sometimes people that you think that are around you should be telling you the right thing.

adds an athlete as an athlete, and you can't make excuses. it was all my fault. i was an alcoholic at the time, i think. i think i was a functioning alcoholic. >> you were drinking that much? >> i think i was drinking that much. i definitely was, don. when you have structure and you get up every morning, you know you have to be somewhere. once you retire and, you know, you lose your way and you don't have the right people telling you the right things, but you're a grown man. i take responsibility for that. >> you had yes people around you. >> no excuses though. i'm a grown man. >> before the break, i said what the attorney general said about you. is he right? >> i think he's incorrect. i think i'm a christian first. like i said before, there's times i lost my ways. when i was definitely drinking at times, i think i had a dark side. i know i did. but i think i'm a good man who's

done a lot of good. i have to continue. >> and you were in real prison. you weren't in a celebrity prison. you went to rikers and then to state prison in new jersey. >> that's right. >> you were in real prison. >> that's right. >> what was the profound moment there? >> any time a 22-year-old correctional officer can tell you to bend over or get naked or do anything and you lose your freedom, i think right then you realize that you're in prison. it's just not being, you know, 6'10" and being a famous athlete that's going to help you. at that point right there when you can't do anything and somebody's telling you what to do at all times -- >> because they're checking you for contraband. i have to ask you this because we have the whole thing with penn state and jerry sandusky. you had a thing as a child. you were molested. >> that's right, yeah. do you think that affected your behavior? did you deal with that as a child?

>> i definitely did. coming from an interracial relationship with my mother being white and my father being black, there was times i didn't want to cause anymore drama to them, so i kept a lot of things to myself. until i got to prison, i just couldn't keep a memoir or journal. i just started writing letters to my father and it flowed. when it started flowing, those things came out on paper. i never meant this to be a book. i was just sending those letters home. those are one of the letters that came into play with me. i'm sweating up this here. >> it's actually cold. >> it's very difficult to explain about child molestation in two or three minutes. i'm willing to talk to all groups and anybody i can help. i'm just trying, you know, sometimes i wake up and want to save the world. then i want to save my community. sometimes it's got to wake up and save myself. >> the book is called "humbled." it's fascinating. i've read soxc